Alone Together
by gc111111111
Summary: Hermione and Charlie's relationship from the beginning, from friends to more, based in the months after the war, not compliant with the books ending, Fred didn't die and Hermione and Ron never got together. Rated M for possible future content. First attempt at fanfic.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

Hermione Granger climbed down four flights of creaky stairs to enter the warm Kitchen of the Burrow. She couldn't sleep, not surprising really as in the last two months she had really settled into her new home in Grimmauld Place, living with Harry, Ron and unofficially, Ginny, who was more often than not with Harry much to Ron's chagrin. Now the Burrow really was her second home but she just could not reacclimatise to the hustle and bustle of this home having grown so used to the cold quietness of Grimmauld Place.

The whole gang had returned to the Burrow for the long weekend, here to enjoy the summer weather and for the celebrations to be held later this weekend. The Weasleys were throwing a giant bash this Saturday night to celebrate the home coming of Fred, newly released from hospital having slowly but surely recovered from the near fatal injuries of the final battle, and the Weasley clan fully reuniting, celebrating the return of Percy to the fold. Though they didn't know it yet, they would also be celebrating Harry and Ginny's engagement. The two had been engaged a week but had held off telling everyone else until they were all together, although Ginny had let it slip to Hermione in advance in her excitement, needing to share the good news.

The summer weather combined with the Burrow being at full capacity meant the heat was somewhat over-bearing and for Hermione, not conducive to sleep at all. She gave up trying and decided to sneak down stairs for a drink, or maybe to chance her luck sleeping on the couch. At least she would be on her own down here. She really wasn't a fan of sharing her room with the girls anymore.

She pottered around the kitchen rooting out some juice when a sudden cough made her jump out of her skin. She whipped around in fright only to find a sheepish Charlie, in a similar state to herself. She relaxed with the realisation that there was no danger only to feel disappointed that she would come into this situation looking like what she could only assume as a fright. "Oh well, it's not like Charlie would think twice about the way I look" she thought to herself in resignation.

"Jesus Charlie, you frightened me! What are you doing up?"

"Hey, sorry Hermione, I didn't mean to scare you, didn't expect anyone to be in here at this time."

"Can't sleep either? Want some juice?" offered Hermione, grateful to have something to do with her hands to distract from the awkwardness she was feeling. Charlie gladly accepted a glass from her, his hand brushing hers as he took it. He tried not to react awkwardly but couldn't help overthinking the exchange. Hermione seemed un-phased to him. He must be overthinking the situation, he scolded himself internally.

He made himself comfortable at the table and was very happy to see Hermione do the same opposite him. He wanted to get to know the girl in front of him better, something he was trying to convince himself was totally normal, considering that she was such a big part of his brothers' lives, considered part of the family really. He hadn't been around her much compared to the rest of his brothers, even Bill and Percy knew her very well. He decided to take advantage of this opportunity to quiz her and get to know her better.

"How have you been getting on these last few months Hermione, since things quietened down after the war? I know you spent a month in Australia with your parents, how have you been finding it since you came home?"

The two ended up talking for ages, about the aftermath, people's plans for the future, and the day to day goings as their lives took on a state of normality again. He was intrigued by this girl, who was not merely the best friend of Ron but also admired by the rest of his siblings, loved even. The older boys sung her praises and the younger siblings adored her. Even the twins showed a real affection for the poor girl, their constant teasing of her showing Charlie their true feelings. He kind of felt left out by his distance with her.

He found her bright and interesting, which he had expected, but he also found she had a great sense of humour and a very cheeky side and that he could really get along with her. This he had not expected considering the differences between them, including age, experience and background. Two hours had passed in no time at all.

Hermione looked up at the clock and was shocked to see it was nearly 3am. They had talked for two hours. She started to feel a little embarrassed, hoping she hadn't bored him knowing her tendency to babble.

"Gosh Charlie, I didn't mean to go on for so long, you're probably exhausted!"

Charlie noted the change in atmosphere and though he wouldn't admit it, he was disappointed that she had noticed the time and was making her exit now. "Not at all Hermione, I wasn't sleepy before, I'm finding it hard to settle at night, not used to being back here I guess". He noticed she hadn't made a move to go back upstairs. "I was actually going to try getting a bit of kip on the couch, there's something kind of peaceful about down here knowing everyone is away upstairs". "Merlin I hope I don't sound like an unsociable loner" he thought as he said this.

Hermione started laughing quietly at this, making Charlie regard her nervously. "I actually had the same plan Charlie, I was going to camp out down here, I'm finding sharing a room with the girls too stuffy."

Charlie was relieved to see her laugh. He put on his devilishly handsome player grin and deepened his voice, "I don't mind sharing the couch with you, sweetheart." "I can't believe I just said that to Hermione Granger, seven years younger and baby Ron's best friend! She'll think I am a creep!"

Hermione giggled. She knew he was obviously joking, a guy like him wouldn't seriously be interested in her! She ignored the feeling of disappointment at this thought. "That's ok Charlie, it would kind of defeat the purpose of trying to get some space from everyone if I took up all the couch. And I'm a kicker when it comes to sharing beds" she added, not meaning to flirt but doing it anyway. It was true though, she tossed and turned so much it was impossible to share a bed with her. Charlie regarded her with amusement, surprised and happy (too happy) at her reaction to his mild flirting. They both stood up from the table, Hermione heading for the stairs, Charlie for the sitting room. The girl intrigued him, there was no doubt his thought would revolve around her for the rest of the night. "fuck it" he thought to himself, and he decided to push his luck and keep flirting, he was enjoying it too much to stop now anyway, he turned around to her just as she started to climb the stairs and said in that ultra-low sultry voice, "nice jammies by the way" and turned immediately into the sitting room leaving Hermione standing stock-still, shy and self-conscious, nervous and, she hated to admit it, exhilarated by his comment and tone. Damn that man was sexy. She looked down at her tank top and shorts and cursed the fact that she had no bra on…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Burrow house hold was awoken at 8 o'clock the next day to the sounds and smells of Mrs Weasley's breakfast preparations, much to the annoyance of Hermione, who had only drifted off to sleep at 4am having replayed the previous night's encounter over and over in her mind. She cursed Charlie Weasley for taking over her thoughts. She was finished school, she should be over school girl crushes, she argued with herself. She groggily made her way downstairs to the kitchen to find everyone present except for the one face she was most looking forward to seeing. She sat down and was immediately sandwiched between the twins, whose favourite pastime was teasing the cranky witch before she felt the effect of her first coffee. She looked particularly cranky this morning and they grinned happily as the bumped elbows and knocked her about, trying to slip rogue treats into her breakfast. Hermione knew she couldn't deal with this today and when she heard Molly ponder about Charlie's absence she decided distraction of the twins was the best solution.

"Fred, George, I bet it's worth your while going into the sitting room and jumping u=on the couch…" she suggested nonchalantly.

The pair looked at her quizzically before deciding to just go with it. They leaped up but things didn't quite to plan for Hermione as she was dragged up with them. They bounded into the sitting room dragging Hermione between them to be happily surprised by the presence of the sleeping sibling. Internally the pair questioned Hermione's knowledge of his presence here but they both filed that away to think about later. They did however, see an opportunity to annoy Charlie and embarrass Hermione and unceremoniously threw Hermione onto the couch with Charlie, cackling at the look of shock and embarrassment on Hermione's face and the look of confusion on Charlie's. They started jumping on the furniture effectively shoving the embarrassed pair together and ruling out any chance of escape. Charlie knew there was no easy way out of this situation with the boys and decided it might be fun to go along with it to see the reaction of the girl. He grinned up at the twins and started to put his arms around her playing the role of cheeky flirt under the guise of protective gentleman. Hermione blushed furiously but was not adverse to the contact with such a handsome man and sat back trying not to react. The twins stopped their activity, disappointed not to see Hermione's expected reaction and retaliation. They didn't know what to make of Charlie's reaction. In fact, Charlie seemed to enjoy his wake up call. The pair were thoroughly disheartened by the lack of appropriate response. They shrugged to each-other and returned to breakfast with thoughts of making up for the lack of drama.

Charlie turned to face the girl in his arms and grinned at her looking at him in surprise. Glancing through the open door to see some confused and curious faces look back at him, he leaned in to whisper in her ear "I could get used to a wakeup call like this…. And I am really quite fond of your jammies now" he said in a gravelly tone while fingering the material of her top, causing his knuckles to graze her bare skin. The events of the morning had not gone to Hermione's plan at all. She sat frozen, leaning up against Charlie, trying to force herself to move and stop staring up at his gorgeous face. She stood up, fixed her clothes back into place and cleared her throat as the perfect retort entered her head.

"if you're this cheerful after 4 hours sleep I'll have to think of more ways to keep you up at night in future…" she said quietly, before winking cheekily at him and returning to the table to ignore the inquisitive glances she received from any who had seen the exchange. She tucked into a piece of toast while pondering whether it was a blessing or a curse that she never slept in a bra but thought bouncing on the couch was decidedly not one of her brighter ideas.

Charlie eventually approached the table, having had to stay on the couch recovering from the brunettes unexpectedly flirtatious comment for a minute or too. The twins decided they'd had enough and ran outside into the sunshine with talk of naked flying just as Charlie looked for a seat at the table. He took advantage of the situation and sat to Hermione's left, helping himself to toast as his arm gently grazed hers. He rethought his sleeping attire of tee-shirt and boxer-shorts and decided perhaps sleeping bare chested was a good idea for a while. He was enjoying his breakfast far too much, sitting back, his leg 'accidentally' brushing against hers under the table. He couldn't help the grin which stole over his face at the little jump Hermione gave at the contact. Only then did he notice Bill regarding him questioningly. He was not looking forward to the inevitable quiz from his older brother later…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was the general consensus that the gang of Weasley's and their plus ones would hang out in the garden, maybe play a game of quiditch or go for a swim in the lake that Saturday morning before they all had to pitch in and help set up for that evening's extravaganza. In drips and drabs they eventually all accumulated at the bottom of the garden, some less enthusiastic than others.

Fred and George had developed a very complicated team game they insisted on showing everyone which basically combined quiditch, tip the can, water polo and general mayhem. Fred led his team comprising of Bill, Fleur, Luna and Ron against George's team of Harry, Ginny, Penelope and Percy, who, Godric bless him, was trying his hardest to fit in to the family dynamic.

Charlie begged off with excuses of being the Referee while Hermione plain refused to fly or get wet and instead eagerly looked forward to a chance to nap in the sun, get some freckles and catch up on her sleep, a perfect plan in her opinion. She found a bit of old rope in the garden shed and charmed together a hammock. Smiling serenely to herself at her accomplishment she climbed in and settled down for a snooze, unaware of the audience she had.

Looking back, she probably should have figured out that Fred and George had to have learned their bold ways from someone and having recently familiarised herself with Charlie's wicked sense of humour she should have put two and two together. These facts along with the circumstances in which the twins' game had degenerated into an all-out water fight and general misbehaviour and it really should have come as no surprise when Charlie, flanked by the twins, came to get her whether she liked it or not. The bold two ran and upturned her hammock sending her flying into Charlie, waiting to catch her on the other side, who hoisted her over the shoulder and pegged it over to the lake. Realistically, she didn't know why she bothered trying to negotiate her way out of this situation, these three Weasleys were terrorists. He swung her into the water after much argument, giving her time to figure out that she may as well take him with her, grabbing a hold of his hand just as he let her go.

She rose from the depths of the water spluttering, to the cheering of the rest of the party who returned to their warfare with renewed vigour after her little distraction. She thanked her lucky stars she was a bit away from the rest of them but remembering Charlie had been dragged down with her. She turned in the water slowly, suspicious of the lack of activity on his part to be momentarily stunned into silence and stillness by the devilish grin on his face. He began to slowly advance on her, making her nervously tread backwards.

"Now Charlie, it was only fair I take you down with me, all's fair in love and war right?!" she trilled nervously.

His eyes gleamed at this comment. "The others all think you are a shy, quiet, well behaved girl, but I have you figured out..." he spoke, in a low deep voice so only she could hear. That voice that made her nervous, but in an exciting kind of way. She looked around to see if there was anyone to save her, or to witness what might happen next but everyone was busy drowning each other and trying to do as much damage to each other's clothes and hair, a mud fight well on its way to being established. She knew there was no saving her, so she decided what the hell, time to fight back and fight dirty. She stopped retreating suddenly, causing Charlie to end up directly in front of her, chest to chest. She tried to look up innocently at him but couldn't help the gleam in her eyes. Charlie got over his shock at the sudden contact and registered the look she gave him. He grabbed her waist and brought her tight against him, lifting her up slightly, to whisper in her ear "I know your secret. You're wicked" he said, so close to her ear that his lips grazed her as he spoke, making her thoughts go fuzzy only to send her into a frenzy when her lowered her back down having planter a leg forward, leading her to straddle it with hers. She couldn't stop her reaction to him so she decided to just go with it, she gently lowered herself against him, causing perfect friction between them. She sighed at the feeling of contact, leaned up to Charlie and replied "I'm a good girl. I'm very good. I think you're a bad influence" and with that she made her escape, lifting herself out of the lake and walking back into the house to get changed, thanking Merlin she had learned from her past mistakes by wearing a bra this time, however revealing, it was better than nothing under her now transparent teeshirt.

Charlie watched her go, a little breathless, but more excited now about being back in the Burrow than he had been in a long time. Time to come up with a plan, he thought to himself.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Hermione forced herself to keep it together until she got to the privacy of her room before freaking out. What the fudge was she thinking, acting like a wanton hussy, she didn't know what came over her. This internal fight was now familiar to her as she seemed to have it after every encounter with Charlie. He brought out her reckless side and she wasn't sure it was healthy. She did know one thing though, she had it bad for him.

She knew it wasn't a good idea to fall for a guy like Charlie, a well-known ladies man, player and general bad boy. He wasn't even her usual type although that in itself was a bit of a laugh, she didn't think she had a type going by her past passing flirtations with Victor Krum and Ron. But Hermione also knew that now was the time to live it up, be risky and enjoy her youth free of the stress that afflicted her school days while fighting in the war. Now it was time to make up for lost years of care free fun. With this new attitude she was determined to get what she wanted, and tonight she decided to go balls to the wall hard core flirting with Charlie.

She went in and decided to take full advantage of the free bathroom while everyone else was still outside. She took her time showering and was just leaving the bathroom clad only in a towel, when she walked straight into Fred and George, both looking mud drenched and happy. She tightened her grip on her towel, knowing the pairs line of thoughts and tried to dodge past the mischievous two. Unfortunately she was not successful. George jumped behind her and Fred in front of her effectively sandwiching her between the two. She was momentarily stunned into silence as she felt the twins wandering hands but soon came to her senses as she heard the rest of the gang make their way up stairs.

"BOYS! Behave yourselves, I wouldn't like to have to tell Molly about this..." she threatened.

Fred bent to speak quietly into her ear "You might make her day, letting her think one of us would settle down with you... but which one would you choose?" and with that comment he softly nipped her neck, in that perfect spot, and retreated, only to be replaced by George, who quickly but gently kissed her cheek and stepped back. The pair gave her a cheeky wink and ran off to top floor just as the others appeared on the landing. She realised she was standing in only a towel blushing furiously, and quickly scampered back to her room to get dressed.

Charlie watched her hurried leave and made his way up the next flight suspecting the twins had something to do with Hermione's flustered state. He found the pair grinning like maniacs in their room.

"What did you do?"

"Why Charlie, we were ambushed by a near naked Hermione! in our shocked state we did what was only natural... We flirted our hearts out" George answered grinning lazily.

"And I think Hermione rather enjoyed herself. I know I did." finished Fred.

Charlie left the pair feeling conflicted. He didn't like the thought of the twins vying for Hermione's attention, but he was also surprised to note that Hermione wasn't as shy as he had thought, all things considered. At least now he felt he could start really flirting with her without worrying about her being to innocent. Suddenly the prospect of the party tonight just became a lot more exciting.

Hermione quickly tied up her hair and threw on some casual clothes and went downstairs to start helping set up for the party. she thought it was better to keep busy and not overthink today's events so far. She also wanted to do her share of the work early so she had plenty of time to get ready. Suddenly looking good tonight had become very important to her.

Hermione was delighted with her work two hours later as she surveyed the garden. The marquee was up and her floating lanterns looked beautiful and would set a lovely romantic light as the night grew dark.

She made her way back to the room and set about getting ready for the night. She felt butterflies thinking about the evening to come. She made her hair into smooth loose waves, applied her make-up with an extra helping of good old muggle eye-liner, and finally stepped into her dress and heels. Ginny and Luna who were also now getting ready were full of compliments, not used to seeing Hermione in such a flirty dress and heels. The two girls headed down to the garden, eager to see Harry and the boys, just as people started to arrive. Hermione made her finishing touches and finally went down to join them. Tonight was going to be a great night no matter what happens, she thought to herself. Everyone's meeting up, possibly for the first time without having to worry about fighting and loss. She would get to catch up with all her friends she had so missed in the last few months and spend the evening in carefree bliss.

Just as she made her way down the last staircase carefully, in her new shoes, the twins came barrelling down behind her. she braced herself for an impact but only felt them steadily take a place either side of her, linking her arms and escorting her out to the party. She smiled at such a perfect entrance. She was already having a good time.

The twins escorted her to the make shift bar and insisted on making her drink. She sat with them happily, enjoying their banter and mischief and much to their shock and delight, eagerly joined in their drinking game. Soon the trio's laughter was gaining attention and they were soon joined by the rest of the Weasley siblings and friends.

Charlie had been watching Hermione since she arrived. This girl was something special, he realised. She was everything he would look for in a girl, but he was usually disappointed, always finding something missing when he met women who were interested in him. Smart, sharp as a whip and gorgeous, and now to see she had a great sense of humour, laughing raucously with the twins. Their fondness of Hermione was another thing he took note of. That the twins loved her was a sign of how special she was but he also worried about the depth of their feelings for her. Although he saw the beginnings of a romance between George and Luna, he wondered about Fred. He hoped he didn't hurt Fred's feelings but at this point he knew his only option was to make Hermione his.


	5. Chapter 5

He watched as the attendees slowly accumulated around Fred, George and Hermione.

"Time to do something about this" Charlie thought to himself. He slowly made his way over to them, subtly aiming in Hermione's direction.

Hermione felt herself grow slightly nervous and excited. She had kept an eye on Charlie and now he was headed for her. She made a quick decision to be reckless (probably thanks to the drinks the twins had been plying her with) and as Charlie approached, she sidled over a bit to make room right beside her. There wasn't really enough room to fit another person in beside her but all the better she thought mischievously. She looked up into Charlie's face and patted the seat beside her. Charlie smiled and squeezed in, glad that the twins were in the middle of telling an outrageous story, too busy to notice the new seating arrangements.

It was a tight squeeze and Hermione couldn't help but laugh as Charlie tried to make himself comfortable.

He looked down at Hermione on his right and laughed as he realised what he must look like to her. Grinning, he adjusted himself and put his arm around her, delighted with the pretext that he simply had no room to do otherwise. He subtly tried to gage Hermione's reaction to this and was happily intrigued to see the satisfied smile on her face. He now felt confident in his plan.

He was pretty sure that Hermione was interested in him and with a last thought of "be bold and be brave" to encourage himself he started his game. With his arm around Hermione's shoulder, he moved it so that he pulled her in closer to him while trying not to give his thoughts away to the group all around him. He hoped that to everyone else, Charlie was just being friendly. When he felt he had pulled this off he stared slowly tracing little patterns on Hermione's skin ever so slowly. He felt Hermione tense up then relax into the feeling. He watched her reactions carefully and was excited to see her subtle little sigh and breath she took to settle herself. He moved his hand up and started his patterns on her neck not expecting the reaction he elicited at this, Hermione shivered and turned to look up into his face. What he saw in her eyes could only be described as lust.

He knew at this point that everyone around was already halfway to drunk and that it seemed no one was paying close attention to their little bubble so he threw caution to the wind, leaned down so his face was only centimetres away from Hermione's and whispered

"Babe, I think it would be better if you sat on my knee, it's a bit crowded here..." and with that he put his arms around her waist and under her knees, making sure to do so gently and slowly, enjoying himself all the way, and then quickly lifter her so she perched on his knee, in shock. He knew he couldn't avoid attention after this manoeuvre and immediately the twins were onto him.

"What's going on here?" asked George wagging his eyebrows comically.

"Looks like there is even more competition for the affections of the lovely Hermione now, but never fear Hermione, I shall not give up on you!" Fred shouted dramatically. With this all attention turned to Hermione sitting shyly and Charlie, looking immensely pleased with himself.

"Hey, I was just being chivalrous, didn't want the lovely Hermione to be uncomfortable."

With this the twins started acting like gentlemen, bowing and flourishing, seamlessly returning to their role as entertainment for the crowd.

Having effectively placed the attention back on the twins, Charlie resumed roaming his hands over Hermione, now with much more access. His hand on her leg above her knee was tormenting her and Hermione was finding it hard not to squirm. She couldn't take much more of this she thought to herself and moved to put her arm around Charlie's shoulder where she started playing with his hair, running her fingers through it and pulling slightly, knowing she was unseen by everyone else. "Two can play this game" she thought.

She was suddenly aware of how much Charlie was enjoying her actions as she felt, more so than heard him hum in satisfaction from her place on is knee. With this, his hand edged up towards the hem of her dress and dipped just inside, ever so slowly inching further up, too slow for Hermione's liking, who was now being driven mad with desire and frustration.

Charlie could see what he was doing to her and the thoughts of her reaction was making him grow equally aroused, dangerously so. He knew the teasing could not go on much longer without a scene ensuing. He leaned into her ear and whispered "take a walk with me". It was not a question, it was a demand.


	6. Chapter 6

She turned to Charlie and looked into his eyes. This was a man she desired, not just for his looks but his personality and intellect as well, and most importantly, she felt she could trust him. Her decision was made. "Meet me in 5 minutes at the door of the house", she stood up then, smoothed out her dress and picked her way out of the crowd, mumbling something about going to the loo when she was stopped in passing by Ginny. She was glad to have the time to compose herself before she would jump into the fire so to speak. She had done some pretty wild and reckless things over the last few years with the boys but never anything so reckless that was purely personal. She was filled with nervous excitement.

Charlie took a deep breath. He couldn't believe his luck. The most beautiful and interesting girl in Wizarding England was interested in him. He took a deep breath to steady himself and stood up, making his way over to have a quick chat with Kingsley Shacklebolt about progress in the Ministry. While everyone noticed him chatting with Kingsley, it provided the perfect cover when he made his escape. He dodged out of the party area and headed slowly towards the burrow.

Hermione stepped into the doorway and watched as Charlie walked towards her, relaxed as can be, hands in pockets. He was the picture of cool and calm while she was nervous and shy. She wondered how he was interested in her.

He finally looked up and saw her there. She was stunning; he wondered why she was interested in him. He could see she was unsure of the situation so he simply took he hand and led her through the house and out the front door leading her further away from the party.

"I'll show you some of our old hiding places in the woods if you like?" he asked her in a low voice, the voice that made her want to jump him. She simply smiled up at him and nodded.

It was a comfortable silence between them but one which lead to a heightened attraction to each other. After only 2 minutes of walking in the woods Charlie couldn't take any more. Losing patience he suddenly stopped, still holding Hermione's hand, making her stop too.

"Charlie?" She questioned quietly.

He walked towards her and slowly backed her against a tree, moved his hands to her waist and finally, finally kissed her, like he had been dying to do for hours now. There was nothing gentle about this kiss, his kiss was passionate and demanding and he moaned in ecstasy when she kissed him back just as strongly.

They broke apart, both breathless and shocked at their respective reactions. Charlie bent his head into Hermione's neck and tried to catch his breath. She smelled divine. He started kissing her neck and felt like king of the world when he heard the reactions this was eliciting from Hermione who was now breathing harshly and moaning his name quietly. "Found her weak spot" he thought joyfully.

Hermione thought she would faint with the pleasure. She was shocked that Charlie was able to make her feel this good just by kissing her neck. "No one ever found my weak spot before" she thought. She was now clinging onto his shoulders for balance; she ran her hands up his back and scraped back down them over his shirt eliciting a groan from him that sent shivers right through her.

She eventually came to her senses and regretfully pushed Charlie away from her. They both struggled to catch her breath.

"We should get back to the party, it's still early yet, and people will notice we are missing..." she said with regret. She hoped he understood that as much as she wanted to stay in this position, she didn't want nosey Weasleys interfering in this. Whatever this was...

"I know" Charlie sighed and smiled ruefully. He began leading her back towards the burrow but just before the left the woods he stopped her again and snatched one quick kiss.

"You look thoroughly kissed Hermione..." he said with satisfaction as he picked a leaf out of her hair.

He returned her to the house but didn't follow her inside, instead going around the house so they separately and alone. Just before he let her go he bent down and whispered so close to her ear that she shuddered feeling his lips on her skin "I want to finish what we started. I am taking you home tonight." and with that he left her stunned and wishing the night wouldn't drag on.


	7. Chapter 7

She had to go run upstairs to fix herself so no one would be any wiser as to what she had been up to. She was glad she did when she looked at herself and found her reflection with over bright eyes and swollen lips and flushed complexion. Eventually she walked back into the party to see Charlie at the far back talking to Arthur and his colleagues. She wandered aimlessly through the part, chatting to people here and there but not really paying attention to what they were saying.

She got quite the shock when Ginny ran up to her and started talking to her at ninety miles an hour. She focused in on Ginny's ranting to catch something about Hermione covering for her while she and Harry sneak off for a quick tryst. She simply nodded and smiled, no one would really care what the two love birds were up to, not on this night of all nights.

"Hermione, are you alright, you're in a daze… where have you been for the last while?" asked Ginny worriedly.

"Oh I was just feeling a bit tipsy, drink going to my head, you know. All better now!" Hermione replied nervously.

"Ok then well remember to cover for me!" and with that Ginny ran off giddily to meet Harry.

Suddenly Percy was in front of her requesting a dance with the heroin of the night. She smiled modestly but accepted, not wanting to be rude, and not having an excuse not to dance. They slowly made their way around the area now in use as a dance floor, and talked about the politics of working in the Ministry, Percy picking her brain about the direction of her career. She was grateful when Bill cut in and did a lap of the dance floor with Hermione, entertaining her with talk of the antics of the Weasleys at parties like this long before the worries of war. Ron then cut in and this caused Hermione to question what was going on. She stepped back and looked around her as all the Weasley men and Molly looked on.

"What is this? Weasley Brother Hour?"

Fred and George replied in unison; "Everyone is vying for the attention of the heroin but I know I am your favourite" and with this they turned on each other and had a mock argument over who Hermione loved more.

Used to a lifetime of the twins bickering Arthur stepped in and quickly took Hermione for a turn to give the girl a break from the drama. The music stopped briefly and Hermione took this opportunity to avoid the combined Weasleys dancing efforts. She stood chatting to Molly and Arthur when Arthur suddenly demanded Molly's hand for a dance. Hermione smiled and turned to walk away only to walk into somebody's muscly chest. She looked up into the lust filled eyes that she had spent the last day obsessing over.

Charlie was losing patience, every one of his brothers and even his father enjoying the company of the girl he wanted.

"My turn I think" he said as he lead her back for another dance. He took one of her hands and pulled her up against his body, and placed his other hand on her waist, leaving her no choice but to put her other hand on his chest or (he hoped) around his neck for more of tonight's earlier antics.

His hand on her waist keeping her in position hard against his body was driving her crazy as they slowly moved to the magical music and she couldn't stop herself from roaming her hand up his chest and back into position in his hair, which she knew had an effect on Charlie now that he was staring into her eyes which a look of such lust she was afraid anyone paying half attention would notice.

"Charlie any one could see us…"

"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" Charlie replied causing Hermione to look at him in absolute shock and then burst into raucous laughing.

"What is so funny Hermione?" Charlie said while barely containing his smile, her laughter was the best sound in the world he realised. "People are sure looking at us now…."

Hermione struggled to regain control. "Gone with the wind Charlie? Really? Of all the muggle things you might have chosen, you picked that?!" and with that she once again had a fit of giggles.

Charlie tried to look hurt but failed miserably as he couldn't keep the grin off his face.

Looking on from the side of the garden the twins turned to each other.

"We've lost her." Fred said resignedly.

"I think your right Fred" agreed George and with that they turned their attention to the girls that hadn't fallen for a Weasley unbeknownst to themselves.

Bill sidled over to the twins now watching the party in a much more subdued mood than before.

"You never had a chance boys, I think Dad was routing for Charlie this whole time. Better look next time" and with no further explanation he left the two in stunned silence.


End file.
